Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Cut to "Neutral" at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Barclays (NYSE:BCS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

BCS has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barclays currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Barclays Price Performance

NYSE BCS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.89. The company had a trading volume of 23,648,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,344,755. The company has a market capitalization of $66.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.93. Barclays has a twelve month low of $10.23 and a twelve month high of $19.04.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.37 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 37.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,607,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $516,163,000 after buying an additional 9,188,263 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Barclays by 78.7% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 8,892,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,917,785 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 485.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,680,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,789,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538,912 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,059,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Barclays by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 5,930,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,816,000 after buying an additional 484,497 shares during the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.